Method and apparatus for providing content related to capture of a medical image

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a method of providing content related to capture of a medical image of an object. The method includes acquiring at least one of information related to a state of the object and information related to a capture protocol, determining content to be provided to the object on a basis of the acquired information, and outputting the determined content.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/454,992, filed Aug. 8, 2014, in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office,which claims priority from Korean Patent Application No.10-2013-0094900, filed on Aug. 9, 2013, in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

One or more exemplary embodiments relate to a method and apparatus forproviding to an object content related to the capture of a medicalimage.

2. Description of the Related Art

In capturing an object with a medical apparatus such as a magneticresonance imaging (MRI) apparatus or a computed tomography (CT)apparatus, the object alone lies in a narrow space such as a gantry ofthe medical apparatus. A user of a medical apparatus communicates withan object by using a microphone and a speaker. However, it is not easyto fully determine a detailed state such as a change in a physical stateand a mental state of the object. Therefore, in capturing a medicalimage, a user of a medical apparatus captures the medical image with noconsideration of a detailed state of an object, thus sometimes resultingin a medical accident. In response to capturing an object with adetailed state of the object being accurately determined, an inaccuratemedical image is acquired. This results in sometimes having to onceagain capture the object.

Moreover, a user of a medical apparatus may notify an object of abreathing method or the optimal posture which is required according tothe order of capture, through a voice, but when an object is a child ora foreigner, communication may not be smooth. In addition, it isdifficult for an object, unskilled in the capture of a medical image, tolearn a correct breathing method and the optimal posture in a short timethrough instruction by a user of a medical apparatus.

SUMMARY

One or more in its entirety embodiments include a method and apparatusfor automatically providing content related to the capture of a medicalimage by using state information or capture information related to anobject.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description whichfollows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may belearned by practice of the exemplary embodiments.

According to one or more exemplary embodiments, a method of providingcontent related to capture of a medical image of an object includes:acquiring at least one of information related to a state of the objectand information related to a capture protocol; determining content to beprovided to the object on a basis of the acquired information; andoutputting the determined content.

The information related to the state of the object includes at least oneof information related to a body signal of the object, informationrelated to a posture of the object, information related to a voice ofthe object, and information related to a motion of the object.

The information related to the body signal includes information relatedto at least one of a body temperature, a blood pressure, a heart rate, abreath pattern, a brainwave and muscular motion of the object.

The information related to the capture protocol includes informationrelated to at least one of a captured part of the object, a capturedirection, a pulse sequence to be used for capture, a capture purpose,precautions for capture, a capture time, and setting information beforestarting capture.

The determining includes selecting content used to stabilize the breathof the object or content used to guide the breath of the object ascontent to be provided to the object in response to a breath of theobject being irregular.

The determining includes selecting content used to stabilize theheartbeat of the object as content to be provided to the object inresponse to the heart rate of the object among the information relatedto the heartbeat of the object being equal to or higher than apredetermined reference value.

The information related to the motion of the object includes informationrelated to at least one of a gesture, which is expressed with at leastone of the hands, the feet, the head, the eyes, and fingers of theobject, and a change of expression of the object.

The determining includes selecting at least one of content used todisplay a time remaining until starting capture, content used to guide abreathing method of the object before starting the capture, and contentused to guide a posture of the object before starting the capture, on abasis of the setting information before starting capture.

The determining includes selecting content used to guide the breath ofthe object and required according to the capture protocol.

The determining includes selecting content used to guide the posture ofthe object and required according to the capture protocol.

The information related to the capture protocol includes informationrelated to a capture protocol used to acquire a functional magneticresonance (fMR) image of the object, and the determining includesselecting content used to activate the brain of the object, on a basisof the information related to the capture protocol used to acquire thefMR image.

The information related to the capture protocol includes informationrelated to a protocol used to capture an MR image of the object whenperforming a stress test for the heart of the object, and thedetermining includes selecting content used to induce the heart rate ofthe object to increase, on a basis of the information related to thecapture protocol.

The information related to the capture protocol includes informationrelated to a capture protocol for an MR image of a sleeping state of theobject, and the determining includes selecting content used to inducethe object to sleep, on a basis of the information related to thecapture protocol.

The outputting includes outputting the determined content by using atleast one of an image, a video, sound and text.

According to one or more exemplary embodiments, an apparatus forproviding content related to capture of a medical image of an objectincludes: an information acquirer configured to acquire at least one ofinformation related to a state of the object and information related toa capture protocol; a content determiner configured to determine contentto be provided to the object, on a basis of the acquired information;and an output configured to output the determined content.

The information acquirer includes a state information acquirer thatacquires information related to the state of the object; and a captureprotocol acquirer that acquires the information related to the captureprotocol.

In response to a breath of the object being irregular, the contentdeterminer is configured to select content used to stabilize the breathof the object or content used to guide the breath of the object, ascontent to be provided to the object.

In response to the heart rate of the object among the informationrelated to the heartbeat of the object being equal to or higher than apredetermined reference value, the content determiner is configured toselect content, used to stabilize the heartbeat of the object, ascontent to be provided to the object.

The content determiner is configured to select at least one of contentused to display a time remaining until starting capture, content used toguide a breathing method of the object before starting the capture, andcontent used to guide a posture of the object before starting thecapture on a basis of the setting information, before starting capture.

The content determiner is configured to select content used to guide thebreath of the object and required according to the capture protocol.

The content determiner is configured to select content used to guide theposture of the object and required according to the capture protocol.

The information related to the capture protocol includes informationrelated to a capture protocol used to acquire a functional magneticresonance (fMR) image of the object, and the content determiner isconfigured to select content used to activate the brain of the object,on a basis of the information related to the capture protocol used toacquire the fMR image.

The information related to the capture protocol includes informationrelated to a protocol used to capture an MR image of the object inresponse to performing a stress test for the heart of the object, andthe content determiner is configured to select content used to inducethe heart rate of the object to increase, on a basis of the informationrelated to the capture protocol.

The information related to the capture protocol includes informationrelated to a capture protocol for an MR image of a sleeping state of theobject, and the content determiner is configured to select content usedto induce the object to sleep, on a basis of the information related tothe capture protocol.

The output is configured to output the determined content by using atleast one of an image, a video, sound and text.

An information acquirer configured to acquire information related to astate of the user and information related to a capture protocol; acontent determiner configured to determine content to be provided to theuser, on a basis of the acquired information; and an output configuredto output the determined content to the user.

An aspect of an exemplary embodiment may provide an apparatus forproviding content related to capture of a medical image of a user, theapparatus including: an information acquirer configured to acquireinformation related to a state of the user and information related to acapture protocol; a content determiner configured to determine contentto be provided to the user, on a basis of the acquired information; andan output configured to output the determined content to the user.

According to one or more exemplary embodiments, a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium may store a program for executing themethod.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects will become apparent and more readilyappreciated from the following description of the exemplary embodiments,taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a content providing apparatus for providing contentto an object, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method of providing content related to thecapture of a medical image of an object, according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates a method of providing content to an object which isnecessary for capture prior to starting the capture, according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates a method of providing content on the basis of bodyinformation related to an object, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates a method of providing content used to stabilize abreath of an object, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method of changing a capture protocol orcontent to provide on the basis of information related to a state of anobject, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 7 illustrates a method of providing content used to guide a breathof an object according to a capture protocol, according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 8 illustrates a method of providing content used to guide a postureof an object according to a capture protocol, according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 9 illustrates a method of providing content used to induce sleep ofan object, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 10 illustrates a method of providing content used to test stress,according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 11 illustrates a method of providing content for functionalmagnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) capture, according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 12 illustrates a method of providing content related to an objectwhile capturing a medical image, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 13 illustrates a method of providing information to an object whichis related to the capture of a medical image, according to an to anobject embodiment;

FIG. 14 illustrates a content providing apparatus for providing to anobject information related to the capture of a medical image, accordingto an exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 15 illustrates a content providing apparatus for providing to anobject information related to the capture of a medical image, accordingto another exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments,examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, whereinlike reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. In thisregard, the exemplary embodiments may have different forms and shouldnot be construed as being limited to the descriptions set forth herein.Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments are merely described below, byreferring to the figures, to explain aspects of the present description.Expressions such as “at least one of,” when preceding a list ofelements, modify the entire list of elements and do not modify theindividual elements of the list.

Terms used herein will be briefly described, and the exemplaryembodiments will be described in detail.

Terms used in the exemplary embodiments have been selected as generalterms which are widely used at present, in consideration of thefunctions of the exemplary embodiments, but may be altered according tothe intent of an operator skilled in the art, conventional practice, orintroduction of new technology. Also, in response to their being a termwhich is arbitrarily selected by the applicant in a specific case, inwhich case a meaning of the term will be described in detail in acorresponding description portion of the exemplary embodiments.Therefore, the terms should be defined on the basis of the entirecontent of this specification instead of a simple name of each of theterms.

In this disclosure below, in a description that comprises (or includesor In this disclosure below, when it is described that one comprises (orincludes or has) some elements, it should be understood that it maycomprise (or include or has) only those elements, or it may comprise (orinclude or have) other elements as well as those elements if there is nospecific limitation. Moreover, each of terms such as “ . . . unit”, “ .. . apparatus” and “module” described in specification denotes anelement for performing at least one function or operation, and may beimplemented in hardware, software or the combination of hardware andsoftware.

The term “image” used herein may denote multi-dimensional data composedof discrete image factors (for example, pixels in a two-dimensional (2D)image and pixels in a three-dimensional (3D) image). For example, animage may include a medical image of an object which is acquired by anX-ray apparatus, a CT apparatus, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)apparatus, an ultrasonic apparatus, or another medical imagephotographing apparatus.

Moreover, the term “object” used herein may include a person, an animal,a part of the person, or a part of the animal. For example, an objectmay include an organ such as a liver, a heart, a womb, a brain, breasts,an abdomen, or the like, or a blood vessel. Also, the term “object” mayinclude a phantom. The phantom denotes a material having a volume thatis very close to a density of organisms and an effective atomic number,and may include a spherical phantom having a temper similar to a humanbody.

Moreover, the term “user” used herein is a medical expert, and may be adoctor, a nurse, a medical technologist, a medical image expert, or thelike, or may be an engineer repairing a medical apparatus. However,definition of the user is not limited thereto.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail to beeasily embodied by those skilled in the art with reference to theaccompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodiedin many different forms and should not be construed as being limited tothe exemplary embodiments set forth herein. In the accompanyingdrawings, a portion irrelevant to a description of the exemplaryembodiments will be omitted for clarity. Moreover, like referencenumerals refer to like elements throughout.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a content providing apparatus 100automatically provides content related to the capture of a medical imageto an object on the basis of information related to a state of theobject and information related to a capture protocol, thus providing amore convenient and personalized medical image capture environment to auser of the medical apparatus and the object.

FIG. 1 illustrates the content providing apparatus 100 for providingcontent to an object, according to an exemplary embodiment.

The content providing apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodimentmay determine content necessary for capture on the basis of informationrelated to a state of an object and information related to a captureprotocol, and provides the determined content to the object.

Moreover, the content providing apparatus 100 may be connected to a bodysignal measurer, and on the basis of a body signal of an object that isacquired with the body signal measurer, the content providing apparatus100 may provide content necessary to capture the object, according to astate of the object. Also, the content providing apparatus 100 may beconnected to a voice recognition apparatus, an image recognitionapparatus, or a medical image capturing apparatus, and may providecontent necessary to capture an object according to a state of theobject on the basis of voice information, image information, or medicalimage of the object.

Moreover, the content providing apparatus 100 may acquire informationrelated to a capture protocol to provide desired content to an object,according to the capture protocol.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method of providing content related to thecapture of a medical image of an object, according to an exemplaryembodiment.

The method of providing content related to the capture of a medicalimage of an object, according to an exemplary embodiment, may includeoperation S210 that acquires at least one of information related to astate of an object and information related to a capture protocol,operation S220 that determines content to be provided to the object onthe basis of the acquired information, and operation S230 that outputsthe determined content.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the content providing method mayacquire at least one of the information related to the state of theobject and the information related to the capture protocol in operationS210.

The information related to the state of the object, according to anexemplary embodiment, may include at least one of information related toa body signal of the object, information related to a posture of theobject, information related to a voice of the object, and informationrelated to a motion of the object.

The information related to the body signal, according to an exemplaryembodiment may include information related to at least one of a bodytemperature, blood pressure, a heart rate, a breath pattern, a brainwaveand muscular motion of the object.

For example, the body temperature of the object may be acquired from athermometer or a thermal infrared sensor. The blood pressure of theobject may be acquired from a blood pressure measurer. Informationrelated to a heartbeat of the object may be acquired from anelectrocardiogram (ECG) measurer. The breath pattern of the object maybe measured by a breath measurer (respiratory bellows). The brainwave ofthe object may be measured by a brainwave measurer. In addition, themuscular motion of the object may be measured by an electromyogram (EMG)measurer.

Information related to a motion of an object may include informationrelated to at least one of a gesture, which is expressed with at leastone of the hands, the feet, the head, the eyes, and the fingers of theobject, and an change of expression of the object.

The content providing apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodimentmay recognize a posture or motion of an object by using an image sensor.The content providing apparatus 100 may analyze the recognized postureor motion of the hands, the feet, the head, the eyes, the fingers, orthe like, of the object in order to determine a gesture having aspecific meaning. The gesture having the specific meaning may bepreviously built in a database type. The content providing apparatus 100may recognize a facial expression of the object, and determine a currentmental state of the object by using a previously built database.

The information related to the capture protocol, according to anexemplary embodiment, may include information related to at least one ofa captured part of an object, a capture direction, a pulse sequence tobe used for capture, a capture purpose, precautions for capture, acapture time, and setting information before starting capture.

The content providing apparatus 100, according to an exemplaryembodiment may extract information related to the capture protocol froma database that stores medical image-related information. The databasestoring the medical image-related information may be built in a picturearchiving and communication system (PACS) server, an electronic medicalrecord (EMR) server, a personal health record (PHR) server, and aradiology information system (RIS) server. In other words, the contentproviding apparatus 100 may extract the information related to thecapture protocol from the database built in the PACS server.

The capture direction of the object included in the capture protocol mayinclude a coronal plane, a sagittal plane or a horizontal plane. Also,the pulse sequence to be used to capture the capture protocol mayinclude, for example, continuation of a radio frequency (RF) pulse whichmay be repeatedly applied for capturing an MR image, and denote theorder of capture based on the elapse of a capture time. Also, thecapture time may include a time taken from a start time to an end timeof the capture of a medical image, and may include a time remaininguntil the capture is completed.

The setting information before starting capture may include information(information related to a time remaining until starting to capture amedical image) related to a capture preparation time expended for anactual capture preparation and information related to a posture which anobject needs to make before the medical image is captured. The settinginformation before starting capture may include information related to abreathing rate or a heart rate equal to or lower than a predeterminedreference which is generally required for the object before starting thecapture.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the content providing method maydetermine content to be provided to the object on the basis of theacquired information in operation S220.

For example, content for adjusting a breath pattern of an object may bedetermined based on information related to a breathing rate of theobject. In response to the object breathing rapidly above apredetermined reference value, content for gradually stabilizing thebreath pattern may be determined as content to be provided to theobject. Content for adjusting a heart rate of the object may bedetermined based on information related to the heart rate of the object.A description on this will be made below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the determined content may beoutput in operation S230. The output content according to an exemplaryembodiment may include at least one of an image, sound and text. Forexample, content to be provided to an object may be displayed on ascreen in the form of certain images. Also, the content to be providedto the object may be output as sound, such as a voice, or the like,through a speaker, or the like.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method of providing content necessary for captureto an object before starting the capture, according to an exemplaryembodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the content providing apparatus 100 may selectat least one of content 310 used to guide a breathing method of anobject before starting capture, content 320 used to guide a posture ofthe object before starting the capture, and content 330 used to displaya time remaining until starting the capture, on the basis of the settinginformation before starting capture.

The setting information before starting capture may include informationrelated to the object, such as a physical disease, a mental disease, acaptured part, a previous medical record, the number of captureexperiences of a medical image, an age, and a sex of an object. Thesetting information before starting capture may include informationrelated to capture, such as a capture protocol to be executed and acapture start time.

For example, in response to an object having a mental disease such asclaustrophobia or panic disorder or has no capture experience of amedical image, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the content providing apparatus100 may provide the content 310 used to guide a breathing method of theobject or content for mental stability.

Moreover, in response to a posture of an object required for acquiring agood-quality medical image being predetermined (for example, abdomencapture, heart capture, etc.), as illustrated in FIG. 3, the contentproviding apparatus 100 may select and provide the content 320 used toguide the posture of the object.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 3, before starting to capture a medicalimage, the content providing apparatus 100 may provide the content 330used to display a time remaining until starting the capture.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method of providing content on the basis of bodyinformation of an object, according to an related to capture embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the content providing apparatus 100 mayprovide content 470 for mitigating stress of an object on the basis ofbody information related to the object.

The object may be in a state of tension due to a strange environment,noise of a medical apparatus, or an uncomfortable posture, in capturinga medical image. The object may receive stress due to an anxiety ofexposure to radioactivity or a strong magnetic field for a long periodof time. The stress increases a heart rate of the object, and increasesa skin conductance response. The stress decreases a skin temperature ofthe object, decreases a ratio of an alpha wave among alpha wave and betawave components of a brainwave, and stimulates a sympathetic system inorder to increase a breathing rate of the object.

Stress which an object feels affects a result of a medical image. Forexample, in response to capturing a medical image of an abdomen or aheart, a motion caused by a heartbeat and breath of an object affects aresult of the medical image. Therefore, in response to a heart rate or abreathing rate being increased by stress, a degree of capturing accuracyis reduced for the medical image of the abdomen or the heart.

Moreover, stress which an object experiences activates a specific partof the brain of the object. Therefore, in response to performingfunctional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) capture for capturing afunction of the brain for a specific condition, it is difficult toaccurately capture a brain activation region.

To this end, the content providing apparatus 100 monitors a heart rate,a skin conductance response, a body temperature, a brainwave, and abreathing rate of an object, and in response to a determination thatstress of the object increases, or in response to the object being in anexcited state, the content providing apparatus 100 may select andprovide content used to mitigate the stress of the object or contentused to stabilize a heartbeat of the object.

The content providing apparatus 100 may measure a blood pressure, a bodytemperature, a brainwave, breath, or an ECG of an object which iscollected with a blood pressure measurer 410, a body temperaturemeasurer 420, a brainwave measurer 430, a breath measurer 440, and anECG measurer 450. In response to a determination based on the measuredbody information of the object that stress of the object increases, orin response to a determination that a heart rate 480 of the object isequal to or higher than a predetermined reference value, the contentproviding apparatus 100 may provide content used to decrease the stressof the object or content used to stabilize a heartbeat of the object.

The content used to decrease the stress of the object or the contentused to stabilize a heartbeat of the object may be audio content such asa sound of nature or a sound of meditation. Also, the content may bevideo content such as an image of a natural landscape. The video contentmay include a moving image such as gymnastics 470 for inducing a deepbreath of the object or decreasing a heart rate.

FIG. 5 illustrates a method of providing content used to stabilize abreath of an object, according to an exemplary embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, when a breath of an object measured by thebreath measurer 440 is irregular, the content providing apparatus 100may select and provide content used to stabilize the breath of theobject or content 530 used to guide the breath of the object.

The content providing apparatus 100 may receive information 520 relatedto the breath of the object from the breath measurer 440 attached to theobject. In response to a determination that the breath of the object isirregular, the content providing apparatus 100 may determine contentused to adjust the breath of the object because adjusting the breath ofthe object is required. In other words, the content providing apparatus100 may provide the content used to stabilize the breath of the objector the content 530 used to guide the breath of the object.

The content providing apparatus 100 may continuously monitor theinformation 520 related to the breath of the object so as to stabilizethe breath of the object, in the middle of capturing a medical image inaddition to before capturing a medical image.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method of changing a capture protocol orcontent to provide on the basis of information related to a state of anobject, according to an exemplary embodiment.

In operation S610, the content providing apparatus 100 may acquireinformation related to a capture protocol.

The capture protocol may include a captured part, a capture direction, apulse sequence, and a parameter. The pulse sequence denotes continuationof an RF pulse that is repeatedly applied from an MRI apparatus to anobject. The order of capture and a posture which the object needs tomake may be determined according to the capture protocol.

The content providing apparatus 100, as described above, may receivefrom a database the information related to the capture protocol.

In operation S620, the content providing apparatus 100 may determineguide content to be provided to an object on the basis of the acquiredinformation related to the capture protocol.

For example, the content providing apparatus 100 may select content usedto guide a breath of the object according to execution of the captureprotocol, in capturing a medical image of an abdomen or heart of theobject. A description on this will be made below with reference to FIG.7.

Moreover, the content providing apparatus 100 may select content used toguide a posture of the object according to the captured part or thecapture direction. A description on this will be made below withreference to FIG. 8.

In operation S630, the content providing apparatus 100 may output thedetermined guide content. The output of the content is as describedabove with reference to FIG. 2, and thus, a detailed description thereofis not provided.

In operation S640, the content providing apparatus 100 may acquireinformation related to a state of the object.

The information related to the state of the object may denote a state ofthe object associated with the guide content which is output inoperation S630. For example, in response to the guide content beingcontent for guiding the breath or posture of the object, the acquiredinformation related to the state of the object may be informationrelated to the breath or posture of the object.

In operation S650, the content providing apparatus 100 may compare thestate of the object with a state required by the guide content, and whena difference between the two states is equal to or greater than acertain range, the content providing apparatus 100 may determine adegree of accuracy of a medical image to be low.

For example, in capturing a medical image of the abdomen of the object,in response to content for guiding a breath according to the captureprotocol being provided, the content providing apparatus 100 may receiveinformation related to a breath state of the object to determine thebreath state. In response to a determination that the received breathstate and the guided state are similar to within a certain range, thecontent providing apparatus 100 may determine a degree of accuracy ofthe medical image of the abdomen to be high.

Moreover, in response to content for guiding a posture according to thecapture protocol being provided, the content providing apparatus 100 mayacquire information related to the posture of the object. In response toa determination that the guided posture and the acquired posture aresimilar to within a certain range, the content providing apparatus 100may determine a degree of capturing accuracy to be high.

In operation S660, the content providing apparatus 100 may change thecapture protocol or the guide content on the basis of the determineddegree of accuracy.

In response to the degree of accuracy being determined as low, thecontent providing apparatus 100 may again execute a previously executedcapture protocol. Alternatively, in response to the degree of accuracybeing determined as low, the content providing apparatus 100 may changea capture protocol which enables the object to be more easily captured,and provide content based on the changed capture protocol.Alternatively, in response to the degree of accuracy being determined ashigh, the content providing apparatus 100 may change a current captureprotocol to a capture protocol which has a higher degree of accuracy andenables quick capture, and provide content to the object which is usedto induce a high-level breath stop time and posture.

For example, in response to a degree of capturing accuracy for theabdomen being determined as high, the content providing apparatus 100may change a current capture protocol to a capture protocol whichenables a larger quantity to be captured through a one-time scan, andprovide content based on the changed capture protocol, therebyshortening a total capture time.

FIG. 7 illustrates a method of providing content used to guide a breathof an object according to a capture protocol, according to an exemplaryembodiment.

In a general capture of an abdomen or a heart, artifacts may be added toa medical image due to a breath of an object. In order to reduce thenumber of artifacts, the object should stop a breath for several secondsto several minutes in capturing the abdomen or the heart. Generally, auser of a medical apparatus commands the object to stop a breath from astart to an end of a one-time scan.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the content providing apparatus 100 mayprovide content 720 to 750 used to guide a breath to an object on thebasis of a capture protocol for an abdomen or a heart.

Capture of a medical image of the abdomen or heart may include aplurality of scans. Therefore, the content providing apparatus 100 mayprovide content inducing stop of a breath, before one scan is started,and provide content inducing a convenient breath in response to the onescan being ended.

The content providing apparatus 100 may provide the content 720 thatinduces the object to stop a breath. The content providing apparatus 100may provide a time for which the object should maintain a breath stopstate according to the capture protocol. The content providing apparatus100 may provide the content 730 that induces the object to breathe in orout.

Moreover, the content providing apparatus 100 may receive stateinformation related to the breath of the object from the breath measurer440, and provide a breath state as the content 740 of the object andinformation as the content 750 related to how well the object performs arequired breathing method.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the content providing apparatus 100may receive the state information related to the breath of the objectfrom the breath measurer 440 to predict a degree of accuracy of anabdomen image of the object. The content providing apparatus 100 maychange the capture protocol or the guide content on the basis of thepredicted degree of accuracy.

FIG. 8 illustrates a method of providing content used to guide a postureof an object according to a capture protocol, according to an exemplaryembodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the content providing apparatus 100 mayprovide content 810 indicating a posture which an object should makeaccording to execution of a capture protocol.

Moreover, as described above with reference to FIG. 6, the contentproviding apparatus 100 may receive information related to the postureof the object from an image recognition apparatus to predict a degree ofaccuracy of a captured image of the object. The content providingapparatus 100 may change the capture protocol or guide content on thebasis of the predicted degree of accuracy.

FIG. 9 illustrates a method of providing content used to induce sleep ofan object, according to an exemplary embodiment.

A patient or a child having claustrophobia or panic disorder may refuseor find it hard to undergo an MRI or CT capture in a narrow space. Dueto this, a sleeping capture in which a sleeping pill is used ispreferably performed.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the content providing apparatus 100 mayprovide content for inducing sleep of an object. The content forinducing sleep may include a hypnosis image 910 for inducing the objectto sleep or music 920 for inducing sleep.

FIG. 10 illustrates a method of providing content used to test stress,according to an exemplary embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, the content providing apparatus 100 mayprovide content for increasing a heart rate of an object or content forcausing mental stress of the object.

In a patient, who is not able to perform physical exercise or is unableto increase a heart rate to a predetermined reference through exercise,a heart stress test using drugs may be performed. In response to acertain level of stress being applied to a human body, a mental stresstest for sensing a physical change may be performed.

The content providing apparatus 100 may provide content to the object,enabling the stress test.

The content providing apparatus 100 may determine the content to provideon the basis of a heart state 1020 of the object that is measured by theECG measurer 450. For example, in response to the heart rate of theobject being equal to or lower than a predetermined reference, thecontent providing apparatus 100 may provide content 1030 for moreincreasing the heart rate of the object.

FIG. 11 illustrates a method of providing content for fMRI capture,according to an object embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 11, the content providing apparatus 100 mayprovide fMRI test content on the basis of an fMRI capture protocol and aresponse of an object.

The content providing apparatus 100 may provide fMRI content on thebasis of the fMRI capture protocol. For example, in a case of fMRI thatcaptures an activity region the brain that is associated with arecognition ability of the object, the content providing apparatus 100may provide content to the object, used to stimulate a recognition senseof the object.

Moreover, the content providing apparatus 100 may provide the fMRIcontent on the basis of the response of the object.

For example, the content providing apparatus 100 may receive a brainwaveof the object from a brainwave measurer 1110, and provide the fMRI testcontent on the basis of the received brainwave. The content providingapparatus 100 may analyze the received brainwave to determine a degreeof emotional stability or a degree of concentration of the object, andprovide suitable content 1120 on the basis of the brainwave information.

Moreover, the content providing apparatus 100 may recognize a voice ofthe object or an image of the object, and provide the fMRI test contenton the basis of the recognized voice or image. For example, the contentproviding apparatus 100 may provide a question type of test content tothe object, and recognize the voice of the object in order to acquire aresponse. The content providing apparatus 100 may determine fMRI testcontent to be subsequently executed, on the basis of a response acquiredfrom the object. The content providing apparatus 100 may recognize amotion or posture of the object, and determine fMRI test content 1130 onthe basis of the recognized motion or posture.

FIG. 12 illustrates a method of providing content related to an objectwhile capturing a medical image, according to an exemplary embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, the content providing apparatus 100 mayprovide content associated with an object to the object. The contentassociated with the object may include information about a disease ofthe object, information about a captured part, and a previous medicalrecord of the object.

In FIG. 12, in response to the disease of the object being cerebralinfarction, the content providing apparatus 100 may provide information1210 related to the cerebral infarction or content 1220 for preventingthe cerebral infarction.

FIG. 13 illustrates a method of providing information related to thecapture of a medical image to an object, according to an to the objectembodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, the content providing apparatus 100 mayprovide information related to a medical image, which is being currentlycaptured, to an object while capturing the medical image.

For example, the content providing apparatus 100 may provide a captureprotocol 1320 which is being currently executed, a capture protocol 1330to be executed later, a currently captured part, information related toa currently captured slice, an estimated end time 1340 of capture, atime 1350 remaining until the capture is ended, and information relatedto a capture protocol including the order of capture. Also, the contentproviding apparatus 100 may provide a medical image 1310 of an objectfor which capture is completed to date.

The content providing apparatus 100 may display a pulse sequence asinformation related to current capture, and display a degree ofexecution of capture for a currently captured slice image.

The content providing apparatus 100 may provide content to the objectassociated with a general medical image capture operation such as an MRIor a CT capture. The content providing apparatus 100 may provide contentto the object associated with a cause of noise which occurs in an MRIcapture.

Moreover, the content providing apparatus 100 may provide entertainmentcontent, such as music, a movie, a game, and the Internet, to the objectin capturing a medical image.

The content providing apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodimentmay recognize a voice of the object to provide content based on acondition.

For example, the content providing apparatus 100 may analyze a voicetone of the object in order to analyze an emotional state of the objectin fMRI capture, and provide content used to test a function of thebrain on the basis of the analyzed emotional state. The contentproviding apparatus 100 may analyze previous and next contexts of therecognized voice to provide fMRI content suitable for the object'sintent in the fMRI capture.

The content providing apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodimentmay analyze a specific gesture of the object to select content to beprovided to the object.

In capturing a medical image, a posture of an object is fixed, and amotion of the object is limited. Therefore, it is difficult for theobject to control content provided by the content providing apparatus100. Accordingly, the content providing apparatus 100 may recognize agesture of the object, and provide content to the object on the basis ofthe recognized gesture.

For example, the content providing apparatus 100 may recognize aspecific hand motion of an object, or recognize a motion of an eyeballof the object, thereby receiving a content control signal from theobject. Also, the content providing apparatus 100 may recognize aspecific motion of the feet, the head, or fingers as well as the handsor the eyes, thereby receiving the content control signal from theobject.

The content providing apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodimentmay recognize a facial expression of an object to select content to beprovided to the object. The content providing apparatus 100 mayrecognize the facial expression of the object to determine a currentemotional state and a degree of inconvenience which the objectexperiences in capture. Therefore, the content providing apparatus 100may provide entertainment content or content (which is used to increasethe understanding of a currently captured medical image) for capture ofthe medical image on the basis of the determined emotional state ordegree of inconvenience of the object.

FIG. 14 illustrates a content providing apparatus 100 for providinginformation related to the capture of a medical image to an object,according to an exemplary embodiment.

The content providing apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodimentmay include an information acquiring unit 110, e.g., an informationacquirer, a content determining unit 120, e.g., a content determiner,and an output unit 130, e.g. an output.

FIG. 15 illustrates a content providing apparatus for providinginformation related to the capture of a medical image to an object,according to another exemplary embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 15, the content providing apparatus 100 mayfurther include a control unit 140, e.g., a controller, a capture unit150, e.g., a capturer, a memory unit 160, e.g., a memory and an imageprocessing unit 170, e.g., an image processor.

The information acquiring unit 110 according to an exemplary embodimentmay include a state information acquirer 112, which acquires informationrelated to a state of an object, and a capture protocol acquirer 114that acquires information related to a capture protocol.

However, the illustrated elements are not all essential elements. Thecontent providing apparatus 100 may be implemented with more or lesselements than the number of illustrated elements.

Hereinafter, the elements will be described sequentially.

The state information acquirer 112 may acquire information related to astate of an object.

The state information acquirer 112 may include at least one of atemperature sensor that senses a body temperature of an object, a bloodpressure sensor that senses a blood pressure of the object, an ECGmeasurer (ECG electrodes) that senses a heart state of the object, arespiratory monitoring bellows that senses a breath state of the object,a brainwave measurer (EEG electrodes) that senses a brainwave of theobject, and an MRI apparatus that captures an MR image of the object.

The state information acquirer 112 may include an electromyogram (EMG)measurer, an electrooculogram (EOG) measurer, an electroretinogram (ERG)measurer, a galvanic skin response (GSR) measurer, and a phonocardiogram(PCG) measurer.

Moreover, the state information acquirer 112 may include at least one ofa voice recognition sensor, which recognizes a voice of an object, andan image recognition sensor that recognizes a posture and motion of theobject.

The capture protocol acquirer 114 may acquire a capture protocol used tocapture the object. The capture protocol acquirer 114 may acquire thecapture protocol from a memory included in the content providingapparatus 100. Also, the capture protocol acquirer 114 may acquire thecapture protocol from a picture archiving and communication system(PACS) server, an electronic medical record (EMR) server, a personalhealth record (PHR) server, or a radiology information system (RIS)server.

The content determining unit 120, e.g., a content determiner, maydetermine content to be provided to the object, on the basis of theacquired information.

The content determining unit 120 may determine the content to beprovided to the object, on the basis of at least one of informationabout the acquired state of the object and information about the captureprotocol.

The output unit 130 may output the determined content.

The output unit 130 may be included in a medical image capturingapparatus that captures a medical image of the object. For example, theoutput unit 130 may be disposed at an inner wall of a gantry of an MRIapparatus or a CT apparatus. Also, the output unit 130 may be disposedin a bore of the MRI apparatus or the CT apparatus.

Moreover, the output unit 130 may be an element that is movableaccording to a position of the object. For example, the contentproviding apparatus 100 may automatically adjust a position of theoutput unit 130 according to the object's view.

The output unit 130 is for outputting an audio signal or a video signal,and may include a display unit, e.g., a display, such as a screen, or asound output unit such as a speaker.

The display unit may display and output information obtained throughprocessing by the content providing apparatus 100. For example, thedisplay unit may display a user interface (UI) or a graphical userinterface (GUI) associated with content.

Moreover, the display unit may display a UI or a GUI associated with anoperation of a medical image capturing apparatus, and display a medicalimage.

In addition, the display unit may include at least one of a liquidcrystal display (LCD), a thin film transistor-liquid crystal display, anorganic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, a flexible display, a 3Ddisplay, an electrophoretic display, and a transparent display.

Moreover, the content providing apparatus 100 may include at least oneor more display units depending on an implementation type of the contentproviding apparatus 100.

The sound output unit may output audio data. Also, the sound output unitmay receive a content-related acoustic signal from the content providingapparatus 100. The sound output unit may include a speaker and a buzzer.

The control unit 140, e.g., a controller, according to an exemplaryembodiment may control the information acquiring unit 110, the contentdetermining unit 120, the output unit 130, the control unit 140, thecapture unit 150, e.g., the capturer, the memory unit 160, e.g., memory,and the image processing unit 170, e.g., the image processor.

The capture unit 150 may receive a signal, which is transferred from theobject or passes through the object, to collect data used to acquire amedical image. The image processing unit 170 may generate a medicalimage of the object by using the data collected by the capture unit 150.

The capture unit 150 or the image processing unit 170 may include an MRIapparatus, a CT apparatus, or an X-ray apparatus.

The memory unit 160 may store content related to the capture of amedical image, and store information related to the state of the objector information about a capture protocol. The memory unit 160 may includeat least one type of storage medium of a flash memory, a hard disk, amultimedia micro card, a card type memory (a secure digital (SD) card,an extreme digital (XD) card, or the like), random access memory (RAM),static random access memory (SRAM), read-only memory (ROM), anelectrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and aprogrammable read-only memory (PROM).

The content providing apparatus 100 may include a communicator (notshown). The communicator may include a wireless communicator, ashort-distance communicator, and a wired communicator. The contentproviding apparatus 100 may receive information related to the captureof a medical image or object-related content from an external serverthrough the communicator (not shown).

The content providing apparatus 100 may include a user input unit, e.g.,user input (not shown). The user input unit (not shown) may denote ameans for inputting data used for a user to control the contentproviding apparatus 100. For example, the user input unit may include akeypad, a dome switch, a touch pad (for example, a contact capacitivetype, a press resistive type, an infrared sensing type, a surfaceultrasonic conductive type, an integration tension measurement type, anda piezo effect type), a jog wheel, and a jog switch, but is not limitedthereto.

It should be understood that the exemplary embodiments described thereinshould be considered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation. Descriptions of features or aspects within each exemplaryembodiment should typically be considered as available for other similarfeatures or aspects in other exemplary embodiments.

While one or more exemplary embodiments of the present invention havebeen described with reference to the figures, it will be understood bythose of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing, by a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus, content to a subject in capturing a magnetic resonance (MR) image of the subject, the method comprising: acquiring information of capture protocols; controlling to apply radio frequency pulses to the subject, based on the acquired information of the capture protocols, to capture the MR image; and controlling to display the content comprising an indication of a capture protocol that is currently executed, an indication of a ratio of execution of the capture protocol that is currently executed, and an indication of a capture protocol to be executed later, based on the acquired information of the capture protocols, wherein the indication of the capture protocol that is currently executed and the indication of the capture protocol to be executed later are displayed according to an order of the capture protocols, and the capture protocol that is currently executed is different than the capture protocol to be executed later.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of the ratio of the capture protocol that is currently executed is displayed in the indication of the capture protocol that is currently executed.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the subject with the content as an acoustic signal.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the displayed content further comprises a plurality of indications of capture protocols to be executed later, and wherein the indication of the capture protocol that is currently executed and the plurality of indications of the capture protocols to be executed later are displayed separately.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the displayed content further comprises an image of a natural landscape.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the displayed content further comprises a time of capturing the MR image.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the capture protocols denotes continuation of a radio frequency pulse that is repeatedly applied to capture the MR image.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the content, based on the acquired information of the capture protocols, wherein the controlling to display comprises controlling to display, to the subject, the determined content.
 9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program that causes a processor to perform the method of claim
 1. 10. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus for providing content to a subject in capturing a magnetic resonance (MR) image of the subject, the apparatus comprising: a memory storing instructions; a processor configured to execute the instructions to: acquire information of capture protocols; and control to apply radio frequency pulses to the subject, based on the acquired information of the capture protocols, to capture the MR image; and control to display the content comprising an indication of a capture protocol that is currently executed, an indication of a ratio of execution of the capture protocol that is currently executed, and an indication of a capture protocol to be executed later, based on the acquired information of the capture protocols, wherein the indication of the capture protocol that is currently executed and the indication of the capture protocol to be executed later are displayed according to an order of the capture protocols, and the capture protocol that is currently executed is different than the capture protocol to be executed later.
 11. The MRI apparatus of claim 10, wherein the indication of the ratio of the capture protocol that is currently executed is displayed in the indication of the capture protocol that is currently executed.
 12. The MRI apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a speaker configured to provide the subject with the content as an acoustic signal.
 13. The MRI apparatus of claim 10, wherein the displayed content further comprises a plurality of indications of capture protocols to be executed later, and wherein the indication of the capture protocol that is currently executed and the plurality of indications of the capture protocols to be executed later are displayed separately.
 14. The MRI apparatus of claim 10, wherein the displayed content further comprises an image of a natural landscape.
 15. The MRI apparatus of claim 10, wherein the displayed content further comprises a time of capturing the MR image.
 16. The MRI apparatus of claim 10, wherein each of the capture protocols denotes continuation of a radio frequency pulse that is repeatedly applied to capture the MR image.
 17. The MRI apparatus of claim 10, wherein the controller is further configured to: determine the content, based on the acquired information of the capture protocols; and control to display, to the subject, the determined content.
 18. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus for providing content to a subject in capturing a magnetic resonance (MR) image of the subject, the apparatus comprising: a memory storing instructions; a processor configured to execute the instructions to: acquire information of an order of capture protocols, and information of a ratio of execution of the capture protocols; control to apply radio frequency pulses to the subject, based on the acquired information of the order of the capture protocols and the acquired information of the ratio of execution of the capture protocols, to capture the MR image; control to display the content comprising an indication of a ratio of execution of each of the capture protocols, based on the acquired information of the order of the capture protocols and the acquired information of the ratio of execution of the capture protocols, wherein the indication of the ratio of execution of each of the capture protocols is displayed according to the order of the capture protocols and displayed separately; and control to update the displayed indication of the ratio of execution of each of the capture protocols.
 19. The MRI apparatus of claim 18, further comprising a sound output interface configured to provide the subject with the content as an acoustic signal.
 20. The MRI apparatus of claim 18, wherein the displayed content further comprises an image of a natural landscape. 